Rachael Blackmore: it's daunting to retire but the time is right

Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National-winning rider Rachael Blackmore has announced her retirement from the saddle.

The 35-year-old made international headlines in 2021 when she teamed up with the Henry de Bromhead-trained Minella Times to win the world’s greatest steeplechase at Aintree – the first woman to do so in the then 182-year history of the race.

In a statement posted on X, Blackmore said “My days of being a jockey have come to an end.

"I feel the time is right. I'm sad but l'm also incredibly grateful for what my life has been for the past 16 years. I just feel so lucky, to have been legged up on the horses I have, and to have experienced success I never even dreamt could be possible.

"The people to thank are endless, it's not possible to mention everyone (as I don't want this to be another book) but I'm going to get a few names in here anyway and to everyone else, you know who you are, as they say.

"Firstly, my parents who provided me with the best childhood, and a pony I couldn't hold! This set the seed for a life of racing.

"Aidan Kennedy gave me my first ride in a point to point. I spent time riding out for Arthur Moore and Pat Doyle which I loved. Sam Curling and Liam Lennon were also big supporters as was Denise O' Shea, John Nicholson, Ellmarie Holden, Harry Smyth and Gigginstown House Stud.

"I rode my first winner for Shark Hanlon, who then helped me decome Champion Conditional. I will be forever gratetul to Shark for getting behind me, supporting me and believing in me when it would have been just as easy to look elsewhere. He was the catalyst for what was to come.

"A conversation between Eddie O'Leary and Henry de Bromhead in a taxi on the way to Aintree took my career to a whole new level. Eddie got me in the door at Knockeen, and what came next was unimaginable: Honeysuckle, A Plus Tard, Minella Indo, Captain Guinness, Bob Olinger, Minella Times, among many others... all with one thing in common-Henry de Bromhead. He's a phenomenal trainer, who brought out the best in me. Without Henry, my story is very different.

"To my sponsors over the years. Dornan, KPMG, Volvo, Betfair, PCI Insurance, thank you for your support. To Garry Cribbin, who looked after me as my agent since day one with professionalism and friendship. To Rebecca Matthews who managed (and hopefully will continue to manage!) the non-horse related requests. To Willie Mullins who provided me with success throughout my career.

"To all the team in Knockeen who do such incredible work looking after all the horses, without you and all the stable staff across the country, winners don't happen. To Davy Roche, who's help was invaluable when I was privileged enough to have a choice in a race. To all the amazing doctors, surgeons and physios who looked after me over the years. To all the wondertul owners who trusted me and gave me the opportunity to do what I love doing. To everyone I shared the weigh room with, 'll miss being in there with you. To all mygreat friends - you made winning special. Brian Hayes won't enjoy getting a mention, but he was more important to my career than I'll ever be able to thank him for.

"It is daunting, not being able to say that I am a jockey anymore... who even am I now! But I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the career I've had. To have been in the right place at the right time with the right people, and to have gotten on the right horses - because it doesn't matter how good you are without them. They have given me the best days of my life and to them I am most grateful."

Rachael Blackmore’s professional riding career stretched to a little over 10 years. But she bows out leaving few big-race boxes unticked.

Daughter of a dairy farmer and a school teacher, Blackmore became an unintentional trailblazer as she racked up an ever-expanding list of firsts during what has been an exceptional time in the weighing room.

She had to earn her own leg-up on the pony racing circuit which has seen so many before her cut their teeth. But she also competed in other equestrian events and studied for a degree in equine science at the University of Limerick, with her mother, Eimir, encouraging her to pursue her studies as she felt a full-time riding career was unlikely.

Blackmore rode her first amateur winner for John ‘Shark’ Hanlon at Thurles in February 2011, and it was he who encouraged her to make the leap. He provided her with a first professional victory, too, at Clonmel on September 3, 2015.

By her own admission, Blackmore was an “extremely average” amateur and felt the best way to change her outlook was to turn professional in search of more rides and in turn more success.

Her hardworking attitude was duly rewarded when she was crowned champion Irish conditional in 2017 – her first first – a year which would prove pivotal as having ridden regularly for Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud, his racing manager and brother, Eddie, recommended Blackmore to trainer Henry de Bromhead while in the back of a taxi on the way to Aintree.

And so one of racing’s most successful partnerships was born.

The duo enjoyed a plethora of big-race success together, but Blackmore’s headline victories can be distilled to three horses to hail from the Knockeen yard – Honeysuckle, A Plus Tard and Minella Times.

That is not to demean the likes of other Festival heroes such Captain Guinness, Bob Olinger, Envoi Allen, Quilixios et al or any of Blackmore’s other glories, it just that particular trio has obliged on the very grandest of stages.

Her relationship with Honeysuckle spanned the first of the mare’s 19 races to her last, with De Bromhead describing the duo as “a perfect storm” of Blackmore’s brilliance and Honeysuckle’s “deadly” talent.

Their Champion Hurdle triumph in 2021 marked a breakthrough for a female rider in a Festival showpiece, though De Bromhead was quick to underline that Blackmore’s ability should not be viewed in gender terms – a sentiment echoed by the rider herself.

She said at the time: “There’s no deal about it. If you want to be a jockey, you can be a jockey. Drive on.”

That was to become her theme as she continued to smash down the barriers, not least when achieving worldwide fame via Minella Times’ Grand National victory, exclaiming: “I don’t feel male or female – I don’t even feel human! This is unbelievable.”

It perhaps speaks volumes that by the time Blackmore won the Cheltenham Gold Cup aboard A Plus Tard the following year, while her sex remained the headline in the news pages, you had to read a few paragraphs down in the racing section before the fact it was a first win for a female rider was even mentioned.

Blackmore was merely seen by those in the know as one of the best in the weighing room, end of discussion.

The attention that went with superstar status did not always sit well with Blackmore, who is not one to naturally put herself forward, preferring to do her talking on the track.

Her mother hailed her determination and humility, adding: “Despite the successes, Rachael remains true to herself. It’s no good having success if you aren’t a decent human being”.

Indeed, De Bromhead found Blackmore a huge support following the tragic death of his 13-year-old son, Jack, in a pony racing accident in September 2022.

He said: “To see her around when we had our tragedy, around the children and with their friends and all of us – she’s an incredible person apart from being a brilliant jockey.”

There was hardly a dry eye in the house when Honeysuckle signed off her fairytale career with Mares’ Hurdle success just six months after the accident and Blackmore’s first thought was for Jack after crossing the line, on what was a hugely emotional day all around.

It would be fair to say Blackmore has become a fan favourite, too, with no better illustration than the support that saw her 2023 Grand National mount Ain’t That A Shame sent off at just 10-1 despite having only won a moderate beginners’ chase and his owner Brian Acheson declaring him to be “useless”.

An inspiration to plenty of young racing fans, whether she enjoys the tag or not, Blackmore bows out as a genuine game changer.